No One to Trust Read Online Free PDF Page B

with me. “Sorry,” I said. “Just me.”
    He shrugged. “No problem. Come on in.”
    I stepped across the threshold, into the foyer and automatically walked to the left where the twins had converted a living and dining room area into what they called their operations center. Although frugal in other areas of their lives, they owned only spectacular, state-of-the-art computer equipment that left me salivating every time I visited.
    The décor of the room consisted of a myriad of wires snaking across the floor, wedged beneath tables and hanging from the ceiling. No paintings, no artwork—just high-tech interior design.
    More than three dozen computers sat on several long custom-made tables. All the computers had at least two monitors. In one corner stood the twins’ Linux cluster of thirty-two computers that they used to break encryption and do serious number crunching. To the right of that cluster was an area with just laptops—some wired, some not—all running different systems in order to test and simulate a variety of software.
    The room was arctic cold with a special-ordered air-conditioning unit running twenty-four hours a day. I always froze my buns off when I came to their house until they’d started keeping a blanket handy just for me. I saw it draped over the back of one of the chairs.
    The twins had their work spaces in separate corners of the room. Xavier’s desk was covered with papers, manuals, cables, various pieces of hardware and tons of small sticky notes stuck to every available surface. Elvis’s area stood in sharp contrast to Xavier’s mess. Several reference manuals sat neatly stacked on a shelf across the top, along with a pile of files, all labeled. His computer played a screen saver that showed the Star Trek Enterprise in a battle with a Klingon War Ship. But his chair was empty.
    That sucked. I adored both of the twins, but Elvis and I were more in sync in terms of life, computers and chocolate. We both floundered with social conversation, lived on our computers and had an eternal commitment to crème-filled éclairs and Belgian truffles. How cool was that?
    “So, where’s Elvis?” I asked.
    Xavier jerked his head upstairs. “Taking a shower. Should be down momentarily.”
    My mood perked as I moved an empty pizza box from one of the swivel chairs and sat down. Several beer bottles littered the area under the chair. Glancing up, I saw the enormous plasma television that hung over the never-used fireplace was turned to the finance channel and muted. Market information scrolled across the bottom of the screen. This was interesting because I hadn’t realized the twins were interested in finance. They had an uncanny genius for just about every subject they tackled and if they had finance in their sights, I felt sorry for the global market.
    “Looks like you guys had a wild party.” I snatched up the blanket and swirled it around my shoulders. A party was bit surprising since the twins were about as adept as I at social events, which put in mathematical terms, equals less than zero. To my knowledge they’d never been to a party, let alone thrown one.
    “No wild party.” Xavier grinned at me. “Only a bit of a celebration for the two of us. Elvis finished designing a spectacular security program—probably the first and best of its kind.” No bragging here, just stating the truth and nothing but the truth. “Can’t say more about it but the suits were delirious with the results and sent us a half dozen pizzas and a case of beer as a reward.”
    The suits knew their geniuses well. I was pretty sure the twins had been quite pleased with the gesture. “Cool,” I said.
    “Got some pizza leftovers in the fridge if you’re hungry,” Elvis said as he came into the room. His dark hair was damp and curling at the nape of his neck. I noticed with some surprise that he had dressed differently from Xavier today in a red-checked flannel shirt and jeans. Usually the twins dress alike, which